2014 Core77 Design Awards Spotlight: Food Maps, a Delicious Look at Cuisine Trends Around the World

Some of us plan vacations based on a region's culinary specialties—which, for the record, is completely legitimate and delicious. Scouring travel books for information on locavorous delights is one thing, but in the interest of making cuisine more, um, digestible, we recommend Food Maps, by photographer Henry Hargreaves and chef/stylist Caitlin Levin. Joining forces as Hargreaves and Levin, the duo recently received a DIY Notable in the 2014 Core77 Design Awards for a series of maps depicting each country made up with its popular foodstuffs.

But the maps are much more than messes waiting to happen. "We have taken many of the iconic foods of countries and continents and turned them into physical maps," says the team. "These maps show how food has traveled the globe—transforming and becoming a part of the cultural identity of that place."

The work is detailed, demarcating different states and provinces with different ingredients. The use of perishable materials served as de facto deadlines for creating work. "The food was perishable, so we had to make it quickly so the ingredients didn't start to turn and look awful," says Hargreaves. Because who wants to look at an Italy made up of mushy, bruised tomatoes?

The finished products look good enough to eat, but the process was just as painstaking as any recipe you'd find in a Julia Childs cookbook. Check out this behind-the-scenes video:

Aside from having to work quickly to beat the wilting and browning of their materials, the duo also had to make sure they weren't duplicating any of their arrangements—which proved to be the toughest task. "We never repeated a pattern, so showing each food in so many different forms was very challenging," he says. "We had to play with it but still make it look orderly and appealing."

The team recognizes that the foods depicted in their maps aren't necessarily tracking the origins of the materials. "Who doesn't know the saying, 'throw some shrimp on the barbie,' and not think of Australia? Who goes to France without eating bread and cheese? And who makes a Brazilian caipirinha without a fistful of limes?"

Food Maps strikes a conversation that everyone can participate in, whether we've visited the region and tasted its cuisines or not. Hargreaves and Levin share the real story behind the tasty topography: "This project speaks to the universality of how food unites people, brings us together and starts conversation—just as we hope these beautiful maps will do too."

Whether you're taking your route into your own hands with a bike or traveling as a passenger on a commercial flight, transportation is about much more than just getting from point A to point B. While we're not holding our collective breath for, say, self-driving cars or commercial space travel,...

While the Speculative category of the Core77 Design Awards has traditionally focused on design fiction, this year saw a much broader range of entries. From thought experiments to bleeding-edge technology to hypothetical gadgets, the 2014 honorees point to the design of the future as much as the future of design.The...

Flat-packing has spread its proverbial wings and flown to all corners of the globe, thanks largely to a certain Swedish furniture company. It's said that Erie J. Sauder invented flat-packed furniture in 1951, but it wasn't until 1956, when draftsman Gillis Lundgren faced a transportation dilemma, that the method really...

The goal of all design, in some ways, is to make the world a better place. But beyond the functional and/or aesthetically pleasing products that you choose for your home or office, design can raise the standard of living for ...
Making the world a better place is no easy task....